St. George PD releases online police reporting service

ST. GEORGE – The St. George Police Department announced Monday it will be providing a new online police reporting option for the public. The web based reporting system will allow the public to file certain incident types – minor theft, vehicle burglary, lost property, criminal mischief, graffiti, and electronic communication harassment – over the internet at their convenience.

The new online service will allow the public the opportunity to file a police report at their convenience and without having to wait for an officer to respond or call them back, according to a St. George Police Department news release.

The report will be reviewed by police personnel through the same processes that officers’ reports are reviewed, the news release said. Once approved, the person filing the report will receive an email confirmation that the report has been approved with a PDF copy of the report attached at no cost.

The Police Department said that they expect this internet based reporting service to be very popular among citizens and that it will meet the public expectancy to complete services via the internet.

The web based crime reporting service is available through the St. George Police Department website. The public will be taken to the main page of the website that contains information to help determine if the online reporting system is appropriate under the circumstances through the “Submit Police Reports” link.

If a person has already filed a police report, whether on-line or through an officer, they can add supplemental information through this same process, the release said. For instance, if a citizen had property stolen and completed an initial report, but later realized additional items were missing, they can file a supplement listing the property and they can provide a witness statement.

The online report filing system is not intended to be used as a means of reporting crimes that are in progress, situations that are emergencies and require an immediate response, any time possible suspects are known, when property or evidence is present that requires collection by an officer, or for incidents that involve domestic violence. In any of these instances, please contact the St. George Police Communications Center, 435-627-4300, to speak with a dispatcher.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.

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About the Author

Kimberly Scott is a lifetime resident of Southern Utah. In 2013, Kimberly joined St. George News as a vital member of its editing, reporting and administrative team. She is passionate about engaging communities through writing and is dedicated to providing complete and accurate coverage of both anticipated and breaking news.

Actually, this is a good thing, believe it or not. It will save the public time and inconvenience when reporting a non emergent larceny (that would be theft, to you, Jon,) or malicious mischief, (that would be vandalism, to you Jon,) in which there is little likelihood of physical evidence and no known suspects.
Insurance companies require filing a police report, prior to considering this type of claim for payment.
Law enforcement agencies use these reports in tracking the locations and types of crimes.
Neither of these, requires the physical presence of an officer, and indeed, clear back in the 1970’s a lot of bigger cities were using “phone in” or “over the counter” reports to satisfy these requirements.
That frees up officers to be out on the street, waiting for Jon and his buds to be screwing up, so they can bust ’em. It also means the cops can spend more time eating donuts and drinking coffee. 🙂

Well, allow me to retort… No trashing on the police… There are a few bad ones, I know personally. Now if we are going to educate someone, you should first educate yourself. Utah does not have a “larceny” statute, just theft statutes, so yes, theft is theft to me. Secondly “malicious mischief” is also not seen in the UT code books, it is criminal mischief. With that being said, Jon (that’s me) is very familiar w/ law enforcement and the SGPD. (No I have NEVER been arrested or in jail.) Citizens like to see the police when they call them, even if it is for a simple theft or vandalism call. It is a comfort to them. I liken this website to self check outs at WalMart… If I wanted to be a cashier, I would have applied for the job. If I wanted to write my own police report I would still be doing it! I would also like to ask if you’ve been to these “bigger cities” where these type of programs were implemented? Has their crime rates gone down? Have their officers got fat because they have so much time to eat donuts and drink coffee, as you say??? Mere presence of the police deters crime, how are they going to be in the neighborhoods to be seen if they don’t have to respond to these minor calls, which I would venture to say is a majority of their calls…

I am very grateful the city is allowing this type of reporting. Officers need more time to look for DUI drivers and be readily available to respond to emergencies. Do you want an officer in Bloomington taking a report of a stolen lawn gnome when an emergency happens in town?